Corzetti Stampati with Eggplant, Olives, and Fresh Ricotta
Years ago my friend Paul Schrade gave me a wooden pasta stamp, which I never used. Since I’m a baker, I occasionally thought about using it to make a pretty cookie, but I never thought to use it for its intended use: to imprint corzetti stampati, or “stamped coins.” Then about a year after Mozza opened, when I’d run out of projects to nudge Matt about, I broke out the stamp and told Matt to get to work. Rather than follow the traditional Genoese route of serving corzetti with green beans, potatoes, and pesto, Matt came up with a version of Pasta alla Norma—Sicily’s most famous pasta dish that combines tomato sauce, eggplant, and sheep’s milk ricotta—using the corzetti in place of the spaghetti or penne traditionally used. We use Japanese eggplant and slice it into medallions, which work really nicely with the flat “coins.” No Italian in his right mind would ever take a shape from Genoa and toss it with a sauce from Sicily, but that’s one of the advantages of being American. Though we try to be respectful of tradition, we are not bound by it. Think of it as Italian fusion—and enjoy.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Place the eggplant slices in a bowl and season them with salt and pepper. Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until the oil is almost smoking and slides easily in the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Place half of the eggplant in the pan, increase the heat to high, and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, until the eggplant is deep brown and slightly crisp on one side. Turn the eggplant slices with tongs and add the garlic, making sure it touches the pan and not the eggplant. Season the garlic with salt, add 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil, and sauté the garlic and eggplant together, stirring constantly so the garlic doesn’t burn, until the garlic is light golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the eggplant slices and garlic to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and cook the second batch of eggplant in the same way as the first, leaving it in the pan. (You will not add garlic to the second batch.) Turn off the heat and return the first batch of eggplant and the garlic to the pan. Add the passata, red pepper flakes, and about 1 cup of water, or enough water that the sauce is loose enough to easily coat the pasta. Turn off the heat while you cook the pasta.
Step 2
Fill a pasta pot or large stockpot with 6 quarts of water, add 6 tablespoons of salt, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. If you are not using a pasta pot, place a colander in the sink or have a large wire strainer handy to lift the pasta out of the pot.
Step 3
Put the ricotta in a small bowl and stir it vigorously with a spoon to fluff it up. Set it aside at room temperature while you cook the pasta.
Step 4
Remove the corzetti from the refrigerator or freezer and drop them into the boiling water. Stir to prevent the pasta from sticking together, partially cover the pot so the water returns to a boil quickly and continues boiling, and cook the pasta until it’s al dente, about 2 minutes. About 1 minute before the pasta is done, place the sauce over high heat. Lift the pasta out of the cooking water, or reserve 1 cup of the water and drain the pasta, and immediately add it to the pan with the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved water and cook the pasta with the sauce for 2 minutes, stirring gently with a rubber spatula so you don’t tear the pasta, to stain the pasta with the sauce and thicken the sauce slightly, adding more of the reserved pasta water if necessary for the sauce to be glistening and easily coat the pasta. Turn off the heat and stir in the olives and parsley. Add the finishing-quality olive oil, stirring vigorously and shaking the pan to emulsify the sauce, taking care not to tear the pasta in the process.
Step 5
Spoon the corzetti and eggplant in the center of each of six plates, dividing them evenly, and spoon any sauce remaining in the pan over the pasta. Spoon 3 tablespoons of ricotta in one mound in the center of each serving of corzetti, and serve.
suggested wine pairing
Step 6
Carignano del Sulcis (Sardinia)
